Bears’ QB coach sees “incredible progress” from Cutler

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 28, 2014, 2:40 PM EST

AP

The Bears’ quarterbacks coach says his quarterback is highly coachable.

Matt Cavanaugh, the former NFL quarterback and longtime assistant who is heading into his second season as the quarterbacks coach of the Bears, says he loves what Jay Cutler has done in continuing to grow in coach Marc Trestman’s offense.

“I’ve seen incredible progress,” Cavanaugh told CSNChicago.com. “When we got in here last year and evaluated him we had a real good conversation with him about certain things that every quarterback should do. We said, ‘Jay it might not be natural, but we want you to try it.’ And he did. To his credit, he’s taken every suggestion we’ve given and he’s embraced it. From how he holds the ball to how he lines up in the ‘gun pre-snap to how he drops back, to his throwing base to his follow-through. Every little fundamental we’ve talked to him about, he’s embraced, and it’s like night and day.”

Considering the financial investment they made on his new contract, the Bears need Cutler to keep making progress. Trestman, Cavanaugh and the rest of the offensive coaching staff are going to succeed or fail with Cutler leading the way.

As I Bears fan I can’t decide how I feel about Cutler… on the one hand, he’s MILES ahead of the Rex Grossmans and Kyle Ortons we’ve dad at QB for the past 20 years… but at the same time, he makes so many mistakes and can’t stay healthy for a full season.

This should be his make-it-or-break-it year. Trestman said he bulked up to avoid injury, Cavanaugh says his fundamentals at coming together, he’s known to have one of the strongest arms in the league, and he has arguably the best group of skill position players in the NFL this year.

If he can tone down the mental mistakes, he could be elite.

Cutler may be a huge sleeper this year, or he could fall flat on his face.

staffordsyear says:
Jun 28, 2014 3:09 PM
This is something that should be about a 2nd or 3rd year pro, not a 10 year veteran.

Always has had the talent but lacks decision making, desire,toughness.

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Maybe you’re new to football, but Cutler made the ProBowl on the Broncos with Marshall and weapons in his 3rd season. Then he had nothing around him, weapons or a line until last year. Study up before you make ignorant comments.

Stafford will be good for few Bears touchdowns this year I’m sure. Jennings and Tillman are his best receivers.

When was Stafford’s year?

Lol, this coming from a team with a QB NO better than Jay and you have name like Staffordsyear….what a joke!

Amazing what the right coaching – and the right players around him – have done for Cutler. The haters can say what they want (and they will, loudly), but the improvement was evident last year before Jay got hurt.

As many people have said, including Jerry Angelo in a rare burst of intelligence, the offense is primed for a breakout season if Cutler stays healthy. But not just him, any significant injury would kill any chance of glory, regardless of how improved the defense ultimately is.

Regardless, I expect Cutler to spend 3 or 4 games on the bench because of injury. Nothing personal, it’s just that almost every year he gets beat up and has his replacement starting. I’ll roll the dice and say games 8 – 11 he’s out. I’m a gambler. But a pretty good gambler.

I’ve watched a lot of bears games ( wife’s a fan). And I think Cutler is light years ahead of where he was when he got there. I’ve always thought his mechanics were off but it never really seemed to hamper him. It’s the mental part of the game where he comes up short. But I think he’s got the right talents and coaches in place to break out this year. Think of what they did with journeyman McCown last year. They had the 2nd ranked offense. Like I said if Cutler stops with the Brett Favre gunslinger style of play the bears will be scary good next year.

So the QB coach and coordinator found something he could improve on. More of an indictment of the coaching he had before than of him. The fact that he’s willing to accept the teaching should be a credit. There’s a few good QBs out there that could follow this example.

It shouldn’t be news that a player decides to be coachable. Having said that I do believe he has come along way since coming to chicago. Even if he plays great next year can this guy stay healthy? Doesn’t seem likely to me

staffordsyear says:
Jun 28, 2014 3:09 PM
This is something that should be about a 2nd or 3rd year pro, not a 10 year veteran.

Always has had the talent but lacks decision making, desire,toughness.

________________________________

Maybe you’re new to football, but Cutler made the ProBowl on the Broncos with Marshall and weapons in his 3rd season. Then he had nothing around him, weapons or a line until last year. Study up before you make ignorant comments.

Stafford will be good for few Bears touchdowns this year I’m sure. Jennings and Tillman are his best receivers.

When was Stafford’s year?

Lol, this coming from a team with a QB NO better than Jay and you have name like Staffordsyear….what a joke!
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Your easily amused aren’t you.

We hear this every year. There’s always been an excuse as to why he hasn’t played well in the year prior, and that this is the year he’ll put it all together. Then we find out its just the same ole Jay.

That defense isn’t going to help him, that’s for sure. Offense with see less opportunities, more pressure, and trying to keep pace in the track meet.

Meh. Cutty and the Bears always find ways to blow it when it counts. They could start 8-0 and I wouldn’t be worried. They’ve fallen apart just enough to miss the playoffs from similar starts before. Especially with that defense. Worst in the NFCN, and that’s saying something.

Admittedly, the Packers’ defense was awful last year. Injuries played a significant role in their play on both sides of the ball. Still, they won the division title, again. What’s past is no predictor of future success, A1985. And the goofy lists the Poet creates, which, no surprise here, always includes a Viking player, based on his opinion and not actual results. So go ahead and continue with your childish & endless barrage of negative comments about Green Bay. Let’s play the game and we’ll see how good the Packers’ will be this year. My prediction is another division title and run well into the playoffs, with the Super Bowl a strong possibility. Assuming they avoid the injury bug, of course.

Bears fan here. Jay Cutler is far from the only guy on that team who needs to step it up. The Bears only managed a 3-3 division record last year. They were swept by the Lions and needed a last-second play to avoid the same fate against the Vikings. They got blasted in a prime-time game against the Eagles that they needed to stay in the playoffs. And even with the new HC and what appears to be a pretty radical change of culture, Aaron Rodgers is still so far into that team’s head I’m not sure they will ever get him out. 8-8 was a pretty fair representation of them last year and frankly I’m not sure they were even quite that good.

So yeah, lots of “apparent” improvements this offseason but until this team shows it on the field, it’s just talk.

Jay is a 9th year vet and still learning the basics. That is scary. Those saying he has changed and will be a force on offense have no evidence to back that up. He has talent, but has a habit of poor decision-making.

For Bears fan, you can have your hopes up, but I would advise against putting your mortgage on the line.

Funny how Cutler making progress in his second year with the same coaches and system is being seen as a negative by some people. When you have to learn a new offense every year, and are constantly getting pummeled because your line is horrible you are going to develop some bad habits. Most of the game’s great Qbs have had some consistency in these areas, and they benefit from it. Of course Cutler is going to benefit from having a GM that brings in the personnel to support him, and a stable offensive system. Oh, wait….It’s Jay we are talking about. He frowns too much and got in an incompetent offensive lineman’s face once. We don’t like him, so the fact that he has made progress must somehow mean that he was doing everything wrong before.

Under the old regime, the Bears did *nothing* to leverage or support Cutler — who is a talented and able QB — may not be a top 5 in the league — but he has the talent to get the job done if he is surrounded by talent and a system that compliments his skill set.

The Monster of the Midway, much to the delight of the other teams in the Norris division, did none of that.

Jay Cutler has never been the problem. He is a very good player. The fact that he listens to those with more experience only serves as testament to this.
What his career proves is not that he was lacking, but that the teams he was on were not built well. Successful NFL teams build O-lines. If fail on a team that drafts Olineman consistently, its your fault. If you fail on teams that ignore O-lines, it’s debatable. If you fail on a Bears tem that spent how many picks from the first five younds in a decade on olineman…..5?? then its not at all.

I’ve never been totally sold on Cutler. In my opinion, he’s kind of like Romo in that he has never lived up to his potential and is relatively fragile. Given how bad some teams have had it at quarterback (like my team, the Browns), you can understand why a team would be tempted to commit to a Cutler or Romo. However, there has to be a point when you take your chances on developing a young quarterback who may take you to that elusive next level…

Meh. Cutty and the Bears always find ways to blow it when it counts. They could start 8-0 and I wouldn’t be worried. They’ve fallen apart just enough to miss the playoffs from similar starts before. Especially with that defense. Worst in the NFCN, and that’s saying something.

and if they started 15-0 you’d still say they wont make the playoffs……duh